Answers to Questions About the New Palestinian Government

By The New York Times

June 2, 2014

As a new Palestinian government was sworn in on Monday, The Times’s Jerusalem Bureau chief, Jodi Rudoren, answered readers’ questions. The transitional government of 17 ministers grew out of a unity pact reached in April between the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is dominated by the mainstream Fatah faction, and its rival Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007. As Ms. Rudoren reported, the development has alarmed Israel and could prompt reactions from the European Union and the United States.

Here are her responses to select questions submitted via Twitter to @nytimesworld, on Facebook and on nytimes.com.

Will the U.S. withhold designated foreign aid until this new government proves itself and stops shooting missiles? —Jon Sahn, via Twitter

A State Department spokeswoman said Monday that Washington intended “to work with this government but will be watching closely” to see how it conducts itself. One criterion may be to see whether rockets fired from the Gaza Strip cease, or, more important, how President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and the new government respond to future attacks on Israel.

Many in the Obama administration want to maintain funding for the Palestinian Authority because they fear chaos if it collapses. But there will undoubtedly be pressure from Congress to cut aid. Already, Representative Nita M. Lowey of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, released a statement saying “funding for this unity government is in jeopardy” as long as Hamas rejects the “quartet principles” agreed on by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia — recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous signed agreements with Israel. Representative Ed Royce of California, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement Monday that “while the ‘unity government’ hides behind the facade of nonpartisan bureaucrats, it was only born out of support from Hamas,” which he called, “no partner for peace, nor a legitimate recipient of aid.”

No. Hamas leaders have consistently rejected those principles, though Ismail Haniya, who was the Hamas prime minister in Gaza, did not specifically do so in his speech Monday when he stepped down. President Abbas maintains that the government will follow his political program, which includes accepting the quartet principles, but Mr. Haniya said it is “a government without a political program, which is left for the Palestinian leadership, the P.L.O. and the factions.”

Ms. Rudoren, how sustainable is this “unity pact” between the Fatah and the Hamas? In 2007, the two agreed to form a coalition to end growing factional violence, but a few months later Hamas seized Gaza by force and set up a rival government. How realistic is the prospect that Abbas convinces the Hamas to recognize Israel and reject violence? — J. Von Hettlingen, via nytimes.com

Ah, predicting the future is dangerous anywhere, but truly foolish in the Middle East. A lot of experts were shocked when this latest reconciliation pact was signed in April, and did not even expect it to yield this new government. Some observers remain quite skeptical that the Palestinians will actually hold elections as promised after six months. Stay tuned.

There are many tough, immediate hurdles in front of the new government, including consolidating the swollen public-sector work force, especially the security forces. The question of Palestinian security coordination with Israel is also contentious — what will happen if Israel asks for help arresting a Hamas activist in the West Bank? And the government is charged with reopening Gaza’s southern Rafah crossing into Egypt and otherwise improving the economic situation in the coastal strip , a monumental task. If Gaza residents don’t see changes quickly, Hamas may lose its motivation to cooperate with the new government.

As for President Abbas persuading Hamas to recognize Israel and renounce violence, it’s not clear he will try. His focus has been on convincing the international community that he controls the government and the P.L.O., and that it is their political positions, not those of Hamas, that matter. If all goes as planned, the Palestinians could then choose whose approach they prefer, at the ballot box, in 2015.

Is the Palestinian unity government sustainable? Will there be transparency/how will security cooperation continue? - Bear Gryllz, via Twitter

The Palestinian Authority has been far more transparent than the Hamas government that has operated independently in the Gaza Strip since 2007, and the new government is likely to follow the authority’s trend. There are various reports to international donors on how the government’s money is spent, and some ministries, like the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, maintain extensive websites in English and Arabic.

Security cooperation with Israel is one of the main sticking points between Hamas and the other Palestinian factions, and one of the prime tests of the government’s sustainability. Mr. Abbas has made it clear that he wants to maintain the coordination, and though Israel has threatened to cut all ties with the new government, it also relies on the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank. But Fathi Hammad, the departing interior minister of the former Hamas government in Gaza, called on the new government to cut off the coordination with Israel “irreversibly” during his farewell party at a Gaza hotel.

Security is also a challenge within the new government. The 3,000 officers that have patrolled Gaza under Hamas are remaining in place but will now report to the West Bank-based interior minister — that portfolio will be handled by the prime minister, Rami Hamdallah. How the security forces in the West Bank and Gaza handle activists from the rival factions will be among the other major tests.

More immediately, there is a raging dispute over the ministry of prisoner affairs. Under pressure from international donors over payments to prisoners, including those convicted of killing Israelis, Mr. Abbas plans to transfer the portfolio from the government to the P.L.O. Hamas threatened on Monday morning to withdraw support from the government over this issue, so Mr. Abbas agreed to retain the ministry. But a Palestinian government spokesman said it would be only for a few days, so the fight could resume.